Youth Ministry Issues

Building Youth Ministries that Change Lives

An introduction to the six systemic issues of youth ministry.

We all know the statistics that fuel the passion behind the BattleCry campaign. If we do not take action now, it is estimated that only 4% of this generation of young people will be Christians when they reach adulthood.

But we have so many books about youth ministry, and a youth minister in almost every church! Not to mention that we have Christian TV shows, radio stations, magazines, the works! Why the problem?

In spite of everything we have done and continue to do to reach teens, the statistics show that we are still failing. Three out of five teens believe that you can earn your way into heaven. More than half of them say that Jesus committed sins during His life on earth. 30% of teens believe that all religions are praying to the same God, and 83% would agree that moral truth depends on circumstances. (Source: Barna Research Group)

The numbers are only getting worse, and we need to understand why this is happening. Tom Muccio is the vice president of customer service for Proctor & Gamble, whose products are used 2 billion times every day by people around the world. He obviously understands what it takes to make an impact on a large scale. He once said, "Every organization is perfectly designed to get the results it gets."

Do you know what that means? The overall organization of youth ministry in America today is designed to get the results that it gets. We just looked at the numbers. Are these the results we want? Obviously not! Something must be done to radically turn things around.

The BattleCry Campaign is not about doing a lot of stuff and hoping that it makes a difference. We are strategically targeting areas of change that can have the most impact. After years of meeting with denominational heads, Christian politicians, national youth directors, and youth pastors all over the country, we have identified six common systemic issues that exist in youth ministry:

Pastors are disinterested
Parents are disconnected
Lay people are disengaged
Meager finances
Leadership skills
Type of Christianity preached

Each BattleCry initiative is designed to address one or several of these issues. If we do not solve these problems, we will not be able to turn the tide, and our young people will continue to be unreached and de-Christianized.

In the following series of articles, we will take an in-depth look at each of these issues, explore what the BattleCry Campaign is doing to address them, and discover what steps you can take to strategically strengthen your church's youth ministry right now. As all of us band together to do what it takes to deeply impact the lives of our teens, lives will be changed. We will turn the tide.

The Systemic Issues of Youth Ministry series:
Part 1: Building Youth Ministries that Change Lives
Part 2: Engaging Pastors and Parents in the Fight
Part 3: Inspiring Involvement and Financial Support
Part 4: Equipping Leaders with the Right Message

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Read youth culture news, youth ministry articles, and join the fight for America’s young people at http://www.battlecry.com